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Old Lenses With New Camera

P

Pgohlke

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I am looking into getting the Nikon D5000 body only to save money. My dad has some old nikon lenses and i wondered if they would work

One is an AF Nikkor 70-210mm
and the other is AF Nikkor 35-70mm

both are being used on my dads old N4004s
 
If not, I am sure there are adapters. I am not familiar with Nikon, so I am unsure if they changed the mounts at some point in time, as Canon did in 1987 with the FD to EOS switch.
 
They'll work fine, just without autotocus, even though they are autofocus lenses.

You'll need at least a D50, D70, D80, D90 level camera body in order to autotocus with Nikon AF lenses.

They will meter fine though.
 
TWLreal said:
They'll work fine, just without autotocus, even though they are autofocus lenses.

You'll need at least a D50, D70, D80, D90 level camera body in order to autotocus with Nikon AF lenses.

They will meter fine though.
Click to expand...

ok so what kind of lenses can i buy that would work as autofocus for this camera?
 
Nikon D40, D60, D3000, D5000 can only autofocus with AF-S lenses. They will meter with AF lenses but not autofocus. They won't meter with AI lenses.

Nikon D50, D70, D80, D90, D100 will autofocus and meter with AF and AF-S lenses. They won't meter with AI lenses.

You need a D200 and above in order to autofocus and meter with AF, AF-S and meter with AI lenses.

But to answer your question, you will need AF-S lenses in order to autofocus with a D5000. Or a third party lens with built-in focusing motor that is compatible with the castrated Nikon bodies.
 
gkarris said:
Nikon FX and DX lenses...
Click to expand...
That's not an accurate way of saying it at all.

There are plenty of full format lenses that are AF and will not autofocus with D5000 level bodies.

There is also a DX lens that is AF and not AF-S. DX doesn't automatically mean it will autofocus.

Again, D5000 level bodies need AF-S lenses in order to autofocus. Or a third party lens with built-in focusing motor that is compatible with the castrated Nikon bodies.
 
TWLreal said:
That's not an accurate way of saying it at all.

There are plenty of full format lenses that are AF and will not autofocus with D5000 level bodies.

There is also a DX lens that is AF and not AF-S. DX doesn't automatically mean it will autofocus.

Again, D5000 level bodies need AF-S lenses in order to autofocus. Or a third party lens with built-in focusing motor that is compatible with the castrated Nikon bodies.
Click to expand...

whats a good lens or two to start out with. This is my first DSLR. Cheaper is better too.
 
Pgohlke said:
ok so what kind of lenses can i buy that would work as autofocus for this camera?
Click to expand...
You need lenses with built-in motors. There are plenty of lenses that you can use on your camera:
- Nikon AF-S and AF-I lenses
- Tokina lenses with built-in motors
- Sigma lenses with HSM
- Tamron lenses with built-in motors
 
The nikon kit lenses that come with the D5000 are all fine. Like the 18-55 and 55-200 VR. These are cheap and good. If you want to use your dad's old lenses for a bit, which are ok (but not as good as the above) you could perhaps find a d50 or D70 secondhand at a dealer for a good price.
 
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